1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tape recorder which has, on its cassette lid, touch-type switches to perform operations such as recording, playback, stop, etc.
2. Description of Prior Art
In recent years, rapid technical progress has greatly promoted the miniaturization of tape recorders. Up until now, in some handy-type tape recorders, as shown in FIG. 1, cassette chamber 2 to load a cassette tape and speaker's sound holes 3 are provided on the upper surface of main body 1 and a slide switch 4 to set the operation modes for recording (REC), playback (PLY) and stop (STOP) on one of the side faces. In other handy-type tape recorders, as shown in FIG. 2, cassette room 2 and speaker's sound holes 3 are provided on the front face of main body 1 and pushbutton switches 5a, 5b and 5c for recording (REC), playback (PLY) and stop (STOP) on one of the side faces of the main body.
In such small-size tape recorders, since they have to use a cassette tape whose size is regulated by standards, a large space is occupied by cassette room 2 and, therefore, most of the front-face of main body 1 is taken by the cassette room and the sound holes of the speaker 3. As a result, slide switch 4 or pushbutton switches 5a, 5b and 5c to execute various operation modes are provided on one side face of the main body.
However, as tape recorders get miniaturized, they also become thinner. Because of this, it has become necessary to use smaller side switches 4 and pushbutton switches 5a, 5b and 5c. However, if switches 4 or 5a, 5b and 5c are made excessively small, an unexpected error when operating the switches is likely to occur, thereby limiting the efficacy of the system.
In order to assure operability, sufficient space to mount slide switch 4 or pushbutton switches 5a, 5b and 5c must be secured. This makes it difficult to produce small-size tape recorders.